Raul Ibanez’ homer helps Philadelphia Phillies edge past Atlanta Braves 3-2 – MLB Update
Philadelphia Phillies’ left-fielder Raul Ibanez had an extraordinary day as he went 2-for-5 with an average of .239 and hit one RBI and one homer in the Phillies’ 3-2 win against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia on July 8.
In the first inning, Jordan Schafer was grounded out to first base, Alex Gonzalez struck-out swinging and Brian McCann flied out towards centre-field without providing even a single run to the Braves. Similarly, the Phillies’ batters also got out at the
bottom of the first inning as Jimmy Rollins flied out to left-field and Ryan Howard grounded out to first base.
Freddie Freeman singled off centre-field and Chipper Jones scored the first run for the Braves at the top of the second inning. On the other side, Ibanez posted a tie run at the bottom of the second inning when Wilson Valdez hit a sacrifice fly towards right-field.
The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the second inning.
Brandon Beachy flied out to right-field and Gonzalez flied out off left-field at the top of the third but the Phillies’ batters missed some scoring shots and got out as Rollins drove a single-run shot towards centre-field but John Mayberry Jr. flied out
to left-field and Howard struck-out swinging during the third inning.
In the fourth inning, Dan Uggla reached towards third base on an infield single while McCann contributed a tie-breaking run for the Braves. Carlos Ruiz struck a solo homer (349 feet) towards left-field to lift the potential of the Phillies and again levelled
the game 2-2 at the bottom of the fourth inning.
Fifth to ninth inning passed score-less as the batters did not take any run. Roy Halladay pitched accurately as he threw seven innings with an ERA of 2.45 and gifted just two runs on six hits including two earned runs. He was able to strike-out seven batters
on his 116 pitches. The Phillies’ manager, Charlie Manuel said, “I told them I was leery of starting the game and I didn't want to send my pitcher out there.”
In the additional 10th inning of the game, Ibanez hit a one-run homer (379 feet) towards right-field to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead. With this exciting victory, the Phillies are ahead 1-0 in the three-game series at Philadelphia.
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